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Transportation
Environmental Issues
Alexandra Torres, Amanda Michleski, Marlena Kehrli, Megan Clark
Stockton University
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Table of Contents

Abstract 3
Introduction 4
Methods 4
Results 5
Discussion/Recommendations 7
References 9
Appendix A. (Transportation Survey) 11
Appendix B. (Map of commuter zip codes) 13
Appendix C. (Excel spreadsheet of data collected) 14
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Abstract
Humans pollute the air by constantly producing greenhouse gases (GHGs) by burning fossil fuels along
with other activities and emit them into the atmosphere. These GHGs are primarily made up of carbon
dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and water vapor. Air pollution can also be caused
by many things such as factories, airplanes, power plants, various chemicals, and methane gas produced
by landfills. One of the main sources of CO2 emissions in the United States is transportation, which
contributes over 30% of our CO2 emissions (Alirezaei et al., 2017). This paper aims to identify and
understand transportation trends at Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey. The participants
involved are 100 students at Stockton University. The method used for this study was surveying students
on Stockton’s campus asking them questions about their transportation methods to the university. The
results from the surveys were then carefully analyzed. Results demonstrated that 75% of participants were
commuters and 25% lived on campus. In total, 39% of commuters make four to six trips to the campus
each week while 28% make one to three trips to the campus per week. A total of seven to eight trips a
week accounted for 19% and only one percent made more than eight trips to the campus per week. Out of
the participants, 36 were seniors, 30 were juniors, 24 were sophomores, and 10 were freshmen.
According to our findings, the average number of miles driven by commuters each week was 275 and the
average annual cost of gas per week for the 100 participants, using the average gas price for New Jersey,
was $113,700. (National Average Gas Prices 2021). The results helped us better understand Stockton
University’s contribution to CO2 emissions and the impact that it imposes on the environment.
Recommendations on how to reduce CO2 emissions at the university were made based on the findings
which include carpooling, a parking fee, and creating bike paths on campus.
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Introduction
Climate change is the long-term change of temperature and usual weather patterns in a location. It
is caused by greenhouse gas emissions produced by human activity. Greenhouse gas emissions are
greenhouse gases that are released
into the atmosphere and increase
the Earth’s temperature.
Deforestation, livestock farming,
and the burning of fossil fuels are
some of the causes of climate
change. Burning coal, oil, and
natural gas is responsible for
two–thirds of humanity’s
emissions of greenhouse gases or
GHGs (Krane, 2017). Figure 1
demonstrates the annual global
Figure 1: Annual CO2 emissions, 2019. (Our World in Data, 2020)
CO2 emissions from fossil fuel
burning in 2019 (Our World Data,
2020). A major contributor of
burning fossil fuels is transportation. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, (NRDC) the
burning of petroleum-based fuels, namely gasoline and diesel, to power the world’s transportation
systems accounts for 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions (NRDC, 2019). In the US, transportation is
the largest contributor of greenhouse gases (NRDC, 2019). It is important that we are conscious of the
amount of GHGs that we are emitting to the atmosphere because the effects are serious and can even be
catastrophic. According to the Transportation Research Board, climate change can cause increases in the
probability of intense precipitation events and extended droughts, and sea level rise (TRB, 2008). Effects
of climate change include more frequent and intense weather events such as storms. As mentioned before,
another consequence is the rising of sea level due to the melting of glaciers because of warmer ocean
temperatures. Climate change can also disrupt delicate ecosystems and natural habitats.
Methods
This study was conducted by four Stockton University undergraduate students in Galloway, New
Jersey. A survey was sent to 100 Stockton students via email asking participants about their transportation
methods to the university (See appendix A). The survey was sent to a few professors on campus who then
distributed the survey to their students. It was also posted on Facebook and open for Stockton University
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students to take. The survey was composed of a series of multiple- choice questions and open ended
questions. In the survey, participants were first asked if they had recently taken a similar transportation
survey. This was to avoid counting participants more than once. Participants were also asked if they lived
on campus or if they were commuters. Then, they were asked to specify how many trips a week they
make to campus with choices being one to three trips, four to six trips, six to eight trips, or more than
eight trips. They also had the option to answer that they live on campus. They were also asked to provide
the make, model, and year of their vehicle. The gas mileage for their vehicles was calculated using the
Government’s fuel economy website (The official U.S. government source for fuel economy
information.). There was an option for those who do not own a vehicle. There was one question that asked
participants to provide their home zip code. This was to better understand how far students were driving
to the campus. Participants were also asked to specify what year they were. They were to choose
freshmen, sophomore, junior, or senior. There was also an option for faculty and staff members. Lastly,
on a scale from one to four (one being not likely at all and four being very likely) participants were asked
how likely they were to purchase an electric vehicle. The responses to the survey were then collected and
carefully analyzed and organized into charts, graphs, and a map.

Results
Results demonstrate that out of the 100 participants, 75% were commuters while 25% lived on
campus as seen in figure 2. Figure 3 exhibits the average number of trips made by commuter students to
the campus per week. It shows that 39% of commuters make four to six trips to the campus each week. It
also shows that 28% make one to three trips to the campus per week. A total of seven to eight trips a week
accounts for 19% and only one percent makes more than eight trips to the campus per week.
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Figure 2: Percentage of commuter students compared to on campus Figure 3: Average number of trips commuter students make to
students. campus per week.

Figure 4: Average miles driven by commuters per

week based on zip codes.

Table 1: Number of students in each year.

Results also revealed that 36 of the participants are in their senior year. Furthermore, 30 students are
juniors and 24 are sophomores. Only 10 students are in their freshman year as seen in table 1.
Participants provided their home zip codes. Figure 5 is a map that displays where each of the zip codes
are located compared to the campus. Based on the zip codes, we calculated the average number of miles

traveled by commuter students to the campus each week. The average number of miles driven by
commuters each week was 275 miles as displayed in figure 4. We also calculated the average annual cost
of gas per student commuter based on current gas prices and their car make, model, and year. The average
annual cost of gas per commuter is $1,137. This means that the 100 participants in our study spend
$113,700 on gas per year driving to campus.
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Figure 5: Map of participants’ home zip codes.

Discussion/Recommendations
One way we can reduce our emissions at Stockton University is through carpooling. One case
study looked at three different universities and concluded that carpooling had a positive effect on
emissions as well as traffic congestion on campus. It was found that if students carpooled in groups of
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three, it reduced carbon oxides and nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 7%. Additionally, travel time on
campus was reduced by 8% due to improved traffic conditions (Tomás et al., 2021). Another study on
carpooling found that by adding meeting points to carpooling, it increased the number of participants and
overall mileage savings (Stiglic et al., 2015). We recommend that Stockton University implements a way
for commuters to form groups based on their zip code and frequency of travel to help students with
similar commuting needs come together and form a carpool. This could be done by having commuter
students interested in carpooling fill out a form with their zip code, traveling needs, and student email
addresses. Students can then reach out to others in their areas and form carpooling groups. Students
within the same zip code can select a meeting area, so the driver does not have to make multiple stops.
Another study found that by implementing a fee for parking, students were encouraged to find a
more sustainable way to travel to campus. All parking fees went towards strengthening the campus’s
sustainable mobility processes. They found that the parking fee had to be at least 1.83 euros or 2.12 USD
for it to have the desired effect (dell’Olio et al., 2019). Another study conducted at several universities
found that by implementing a parking fee, there was a small reduction in single occupant vehicles
(Sargisson, 2018). Once Stockton University implements a way for students to be able to form carpools,
we recommend that Stockton University charges a parking fee of $2.25 to encourage carpooling. This
money could then be used to improve Stockton University's campus such as creating bike paths.
The building of low carbon transportation methods, such as bike and walking paths, is a
continuing advancement that many large universities are incorporating into their infrastructure (Sultana et
al., 2018). One study found that Universities with walking paths and bike paths on campus had less
students using public transport or automobiles to get around campus (Balsas, 2003). We recommend that
Stockton University creates a series of bike paths and walking paths so that students can safely travel
through campus. This would encourage students to walk or bike from one side of campus to the other
rather than using their personal vehicles and further contributing to CO2 emissions.
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References

Alirezaei, M., Onat, N., Tatari, O., & Abdel-Aty, M. (2017). The climate change-road safety-economy
nexus: A system dynamics approach to understanding complex interdependencies. Systems, 5(1),
6. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems5010006

Balsas, C. J. L. (2003). Sustainable Transportation Planning on college campuses. Transport Policy,

10(1), 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0967-070x(02)00028-8

dell’Olio, L., Cordera, R., Ibeas, A., Barreda, R., Alonso, B., & Moura, J. L. (2019). A methodology
based on parking policy to promote sustainable mobility in college campuses. Transport Policy,
80, 148–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2018.03.012

Denchak, M. (2019). Greenhouse Effect 101. NRDC. Retrieved September 30, 2021, from
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/greenhouse-effect-101

Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser (2020) - "Energy". Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved
from: https://ourworldindata.org/fossil-fuels?country=

Krane, J. (2017). Climate change and fossil fuel: An examination of risks for the energy industry and
producer states. MRS Energy & Sustainability, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1557/mre.2017.3

National Average Gas Prices. AAA Gas Prices. (2021). Retrieved October 4, 2021, from
https://gasprices.aaa.com/.

The official U.S. government source for fuel economy information. www.fueleconomy.gov - the official
government source for fuel economy information. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2021, from
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/.

Tomás, R., Fernandes, P., Macedo, J., & Coelho, M. C. (2021). Carpooling as an immediate strategy to
post-lockdown mobility: A case study in university campuses. Sustainability, 13(10), 5512.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105512

Sargisson, R. J. (2018). Do parking fees affect commuting choices of staff and students on a university
campus? International Journal of Transport Development and Integration, 2(2), 189–201.
https://doi.org/10.2495/tdi-v2-n2-189-201

Stiglic, M., Agatz, N., Savelsbergh, M., & Gradisar, M. (2015). The benefits of meeting points in ride-
sharing systems. Transportation Research , 82, 36–53. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2567274
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Sultana, S., Kim, H., Pourebrahim, N., & Karimi, F. (2018). Geographical assessment of low-carbon
transportation modes: A case study from a Commuter University. Sustainability, 10(8), 2696.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082696

TRB, Transportation Research Board (2008). Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S.
Transportation. Special Report 290. Washington, DC: National Research Council, Transportation
Research Board. https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/sr290.pdf

Appendix A
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Appendix B
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Appendix C
Excel Spreadsheets of Survey Data

Average Gas Milage Data:

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On Campus Vs. Commuter Students Data:

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